Planned Parenthood
by Ifyousaysodearie
Summary: Parentlock/Johnlock they are going to start a family but Sherlock of course wants it to be done in a logical and precise manner.
1. Chapter 1

**Hope you all enjoy this, I plan on it being a series not sure how long at the moment. Please leave reviews I appreciate them and would like to know if I am sticking true to the characters we all know and love.**

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><p>After being married for nearly two years the Watson-Holmes had found that they were, if you could believe it, stuck in stale sort of rut. Cases came and went and they were as close as ever as the days passed by. John had remembered on their last case how Sherlock interacted with a frightened little boy, his father had been stabbed in front of him by a masked man. Through uncharacteristic patience and kindness Sherlock had managed to calm the boy and to get enough information about the assailant to solve the case. Smiling as he sat in his chair with a cuppa "Did you ever want a family? I mean would you ever." John hesitated to finish his sentence. "would you ever want to raise a child, with me?"<p>

The question was enough to make the other man startled to the point that his usually steady hand faltered and a vile of something John could only identify as a toxic looking purple liquid crashed to the floor. "Right. Never mind. Forget I asked." His tone clearly one of offence, reaching for his laptop.

"You," Sherlock managed to say after a long pause of rather tense silence, "You would trust me enough to raise a child?" Genuine surprise in his voice.

John looked up from the screen and met Sherlock's eyes, a smile curving his mouth into a smile. "Yep. Yes I would." Nodding and waiting to see what his husband's reply would be.

"Yes then, though I'm not entirely certain you've thought it through. Last that I had checked neither of us have the required parts to reproduce and carry a child." Sherlock's voice softer than usual, nearly breathless. In truth he had never imagined having children of his own but he also never imagined having a husband either. Life was always full of clever surprises though, it was nice to know that he wasn't excluded from that aspect of humanity.

With that John let out a delighted small laugh and stood going over to his partner in crime-solving and stood tip-toe to kiss his delicate lips. "There's adoption or surrogacy." He suggested and Sherlock gave a curt nod as he considered the two obvious options that he had over-looked.

"Surrogacy, more logical and precise, more control in the situation." Sherlock looked down to meet John's eyes.

"It's settled then, surrogacy it is." He smirked and kissed his love once more before letting him return to his experimenting.

Sherlock and John had put an advert in a few of the papers and had been contacted by dozens of women who were willing to help. Sherlock took a surprising interest and seemed to arrange all of the meetings with the potential biological mothers. Today he and John were at Angelo's with a rather shy woman named Joanne. She was pretty enough, natural blonde hair, quiet thin but not gaunt and John had made a mental note that she had a lovely smile.

John attempted to make polite conversation as his husband quietly but obviously was deducing the woman who was fidgeting in her chair. "When I was little me mum use to—-" Joanne started but was cut off mid sentence.

"Your mother." Sherlock interrupted with out hint of apology.

John gave him a steely glare, knowing exactly what the other man was up to.

"Right. Um, well, when I was little my mother she use to say that every couple deserves the joy of having a baby. Makes life mean more but not everyone can have a kid on their own can then?I took it to heart really, that's why I became a surrogate." Joanne said keeping her eyes solely on John, ignoring Sherlock.

"It wasn't for the money then?" Sherlock scoffed as he noticed that her cardigan was tattered around the hem and cuffs.

Looking confused the young woman glared to Sherlock, "Excuse me?"

"I'm assuming that you would have been nervous for this meeting so you would have picked out one of your nicest things to wear. While the cardigan does bring out your eyes, it's worn, very worn you can tell by the sleeves." He gestured towards her, narrowing his eyes. "Assuming this it means you don't have the means to go shopping for newer, nicer things and judging by the rather expensive entree you ordered , knowing that you would not have to foot the bill, I am gathering you don't get to go to places like this often. So I ask you again Ms. Holland is money a motivator for you?"

Joanne blushed deeply and her mouth hung agape looking aghast at Sherlock. "Mr. Watson-Holmes, I'm offended." she finally managed to respond. He had hit a nerve. "Here I was ready and willing to help you." She stood up suddenly and grabbed her jacket putting it on huffily. "You're going to be a nightmare of a father if that's how you talk to people. Here's hoping no woman is a stupid enough bint to let you ever have that chance." She took her glass of wine and drank it in a single gulp, storming out of the restaurant.

"Sherlock," John kept his voice at a dangerous whisper, "What the bloody hell was that about?"

Cocking one eye-brow as if confused why John might be upset about what just occurred. "What?"

John let out a long sigh through his nostrils and collected himself before looking to his partner. "You know what. You know exactly what I mean. We've been doing interviews for months now, met with nearly twenty women and each and every one of them has run off exactly as she just did."

"Don't be so dramatic John, it's only been sixteen." Sherlock saw that this bit of trivia did nothing to quell the look of anger on the doctors face.

"John, you have to understand that as a logical person I want the very best candidate if we are going to pay her and have a contract with her to carry our child. Joanne was not that woman, she was a secret smoker which she lied about, clearly has a high tolerance to alcohol she drank two glasses and it had no effect. She had a predisposition to anxiety disorders as suggested by her nails which were bitten down to the quick and an acute case of asthma which was obvious by her breathing pattern. On top of all of that she was quite clearly doing it for the money and not for the opportunity to help others as she claimed and so she could not be trusted. She was a liar John, hardly my fault that she got caught up in one of them." He concluded pushing around his pasta with his fork a bit nervously.

"I understand wanting to be careful Sherlock, I do." John spoke carefully, "It just feels as though you are purposefully driving the women out of the conversation before it ever really has started. If you keep it up at this rate we should have a surrogate by the time we are in retirement. If you're so worried about health, lifestyle and all of those factors why don't we go through an agency?"

"Not thorough enough, not hardly. I want to screen the candidates properly and people often miss important details and fail to notice when someone is lying to them about themselves." Sherlock was a bit dismissive but he meant it, he really cared more than he even thought that he would about this subject. Seeing the anger starting to boil rather than recede on John's face he also sighed. "I just want this to be…perfect."

"That's the thing though isn't it?" John laughed lightly, "There is no such thing as perfect, especially when it comes to children. We're luckier than most you know. Most people, babies just sort of happen upon them don't they? Have fun, shag a bit and there you have it, none of this screening nonsense."

"It isn't nonsense." Sherlock felt agitated that his methodical and careful consideration was being tossed out so lightly by his husband. "You're right most people don't get to do what we are doing and that is all the more reason to be responsible about it. We have to make sure we choose the right woman, someone we can trust. Contract or not if she decided," he stopped himself and breathed deeply. Worry was clear on his face as he continued, "Even with a contract and payment if we choose a woman without being very careful and knowing that we can trust her we might end up with out a baby either way. A judge would be hard pressed to give us the child if she up and decided she couldn't give it to us after all or if she wanted more money before she would be willing to let us adopt."

John felt the dawning realization that Sherlock was even more invested in this idea now than he was. It had been his suggestion to have a child and certainly Sherlock was shocked by that idea at first. Now though he was already acting protectively and the child was still only an idea. A warm, soft smile crossed his lips and he met Sherlock's eyes. If he had ever been more in love with the man before this moment, he did not honestly know and any worry about Sherlock possibly leaving a vile of something well, vile out carelessly left him completely. Sherlock Holmes was going to be an excellent and attentive father; he truly cared about doing it correctly.

"Alright, you've made your point then." John grinned and took Sherlock's hand in his and intertwined his digits around those long clever fingers. "We'll do this your way, be precise."

Sherlock returned the affection, gently squeezing John's hand and letting himself smile.

"I draw the line at fifty though so you better find one you like before then." John let out a small sound of laughter despite his attempt to sound stern. Then, raising their hands towards his lips he kissed Sherlock's knuckles gently.

He nodded to John and took a long sip of water, they finished their meal in comfortable quiet and headed home shortly after. That night the contented doctor rested on the sofa next to his brilliant detective and thought to himself that it was not a matter of 'if' but 'when' they would get to complete this odd, wonderful little family with a baby. If he had to wait for Sherlock to screen a hundred women he would, hopefully it wouldn't come to that. Still, it would be worth his patience and until then he had Sherlock to keep him warm.


	2. Chapter 2

**I'm having a lot of fun with this particular story so far. I hope you all enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Please review I really appreciate the feedback!**

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><p>In the following weeks they met with nearly a half dozen additional women, Sherlock had successfully scared off every single one with in the first fifteen minutes of meeting them. John was entirely exasperated at this point and was busying himself with finding a case, any case for the pair of them to work on. He needed the distraction, the idea of having a baby was so stressful at this point he almost regretted the suggestion, almost.<p>

Sherlock was playing his Stradivarius restlessly even though it was nearly midnight. After nearly an hour of constant, rather melancholy music John folded the top of his computer down and went to their room. "Sherlock, Mrs. Hudson needs some sleep even if you don't." He eyed the violin and then the wall clock.

"She enjoys when I play." Sherlock stated not faltering for a second in the melody he was composing.

"Not the point. It's nearly midnight I think she can enjoy it later." John sat down on the edge of the bed. He was tired in all honesty even if he was a bit too frustrated to let his mind rest.

"You're still mad at me about this afternoon." Sherlock observed with out looking to the other man.

John sighed and shook his head, "No, I'm not. I told you I understand that you want to be careful."

"So I'm not a 'smarmy git'?" Sherlock let the rosin fall away from the bow.

John laughed and shook his head, "Oh, no you're still a smarmy git. I just want to get this started or put it to the back of my mind. The anticipation is killing me, it really is."

The startling blue eyes of the detective scanned over his partner. He didn't say a word but his gaze was that of a wounded man. John looked away from him and sighed towards the floor. "You didn't even ask her how she was you just said 'next'."

"I was being efficient." Sherlock shrugged.

"No, no you weren't. You were being rude." John's voice betrayed his deteriorating calm. "Do you really want to do this? Have a baby with me I mean. You could just say no and we can cancel the whole thing, forget the idea."

"No." Sherlock replied.

John stayed silent for a second as if to wait for the other man to finish his thought. "No?"

"No, I don't want to forget the whole idea. It is quite clearly important to you and I think it would be interesting to see how the whole nature verses nurture goes. I just want to make sure we have a good footing on the nature part." Sherlock explained to his pained looking husband.

Of course, even raising a family would be an experiment for the brilliant-yet-frustrating man. The thought of that both amused and dismayed John. "Sherlock you do realize that this isn't an experiment? It isn't something scientific it's real life, things you can not control will happen."

Scoffing and looking down towards the shorter man sat on the edge of their bed. "Of course it's an experiment. In fact I'd argue that it's a universal experiment given the fact that most people have issues with how they were raised. They try and opt for different routes when it comes to raising their own young and all they can do is hope that it goes better than what happened before them. They try different methods of reward and punishment, they have to combat issues as they arise and be methodical about it when considering the child's future. Classic trial and error to be honest. It is very obviously a human experiment, John."

John was silent, mostly due to surprise that yet again Sherlock had managed to make something that seemed illogical, logical. "Fine. You want to see it as an experiment I won't argue but it's also more than that. It's not knowing how to deal with the problems that pop up no matter how badly you want to be able to solve it. There are going to be questions that you can't answer and aspects of a child that no matter how carefully we screen these women, you will not be able to control. Are you ready for that?"

"Yes, of course I'm ready for that." Sherlock shot him a quizzical look, "Why would you think I'm not ready for that?"

"Sherlock, look I'm not trying to get into a domestic here. I'm just stressed, this whole thing is just very emotional for me." John gave him a pleading look that let his husband know he really did not want to discuss this any further tonight.

"I don't know what you expect me to say." The tall, svelte man conceded. "I want you…I want us to be happy."

"We will be. Maybe I could be more patient with all of the interviews if I knew what you were looking for in a mother?" John decided to bury his frustration and opt for communication.

After an intense bit of silence, Sherlock's brow furrowed in thought he sat beside the slouching, exhausted doctor. "Intelligence, obviously, is a must." He began, "Healthy as well, I'd like to avoid mental illness as much as physical if at all possible. If she had some sort of talent or creative ability that would increase the chances of success in our child. Physically if she were 'classically beautiful' that will only help in the long run. If she had a disposition of kindness it is a trait that might naturally be apart of the baby. Someone who would be doing this to truly help us."

John drank in his words and carefully considered them. Smiling despite himself he met Sherlock's eyes. "Sounds perfect."

"I thought there was no such thing as perfect when it came to children." The sharp angular features on Sherlock's face lit up with amusement.

"Well apparently you have it down to some sort of science." John shook his head and then rested it on the other man's shoulder limply. In the wake of his husband's description for a potential candidate his mind flashed with a mad-brilliant thought.

Sherlock wanted an intelligent, healthy, creative and kind person. It didn't sound like a description of a woman they had yet to meet but instead one very familiar mind came to mind. "What about Molly? Think we could ask her?"

Sherlock felt his eyes widen in a sort of abject horror at the idea of having that conversation with their friend who after all was the very description of a woman he would choose for this. "Perhaps." He managed to form a rather monosyllabic response.

"I think we better just get some rest. Sleep on it, maybe tomorrow this whole conversation will seem silly." John stood and went to the dresser, fishing around for a moment for his pyjamas. Tossing a pair to Sherlock and going over to kiss his forehead and tousle those beautiful ink curls atop his head. "Come on then, lets get to bed."

Sherlock acquiesced to his request and changed quickly, taking his usual spot on the bed. John climbed in and turned off the lamp on the nightstand. "We'll have to be careful about it. We could hardly just ask her in the lab. I'll see if she wants to join us for dinner this weekend so we have more time to think it over." He whispered into John's ear and it earned him a small kiss.

"Get some rest Sherlock, we can talk about this in the morning." John nodded and shut his eyes. They both drifted off into a comfortable unconsciousness, it was good to know at the very least what exactly Sherlock had been looking for in a woman. The fact that it just so happened to be a fairly close and obvious choice might just make this plan actually come into fruition and that thought was enough to content John, for now.


	3. Chapter 3

The following day Sherlock and John discussed the idea of asking Molly further. Between the pair of them, they couldn't think of a reason that it would hurt to ask her. John headed into the surgery shortly after breakfast and Sherlock left the flat as well to go to St. Barts.

He literally ran into Molly on his way up to the lab, distracted in his own thought about what he was about to set up. "Oh, Molly I'm sorry I didn't see you." Sherlock quickly squatted down towards the floor to help her pick up the papers he had knocked out of her arms when he crashed into her.

"It's okay. I was distracted as well." She smiled gently and began to organize the papers so they looked less messy. "What are you doing here? I don't have any new bodies yet today." Molly hadn't had any suspicious corpses in a few days so she was puzzled.

"I'm actually here to talk to you." He gave her a tight lipped nervous smile. "If you have a moment to spare that is."

"Yeah, of course. Uh, come on up to the lab, I need to get these up there." She gestured with her arms and looked down towards the papers.

Sherlock followed her up the stairwell and down the hall to the lab. Closing the door behind him and striding over to the microscope. Instinctual curiosity had him looking down into the lens. He inspected what was clearly necrotic muscle tissue, three days old and cancerous.

"What did you need to talk to me about?" Molly finally asked after several minutes of silence passed with Sherlock examining the tissue under the microscope.

"Oh, yes. Um well." He steepled his long, elegant fingers beneath his chin as if in deep concentration. "What are you doing this Saturday?"

"N-nothing, why?" Molly's voice was uneven, clearly caught off guard by the question.

"Good." Sherlock smiled and met her eyes. "John and I were wondering if you might join us for dinner that night?"

Molly kept her eyes even on his as if searching them for an explanation behind the invitation. "I'd love to. Do you want me to bring anything?"

"No, we'll be going out." Sherlock reached for a pen that was near by and he began to scribble and address on a piece of paper that was some sort of report or another. "Meet us here at seven, wear something nice."

Molly read the paper, '_34 Charlotte Street', _not recognizing the address she simply nodded. "Thank you." Her voice was sheepish but clearly flattered to be invited out for no apparent reason.

"Pleasures mine Molly." His eyes darted up to the clock on the wall as if he were concerned about the time. In truth he felt awkward in this moment like some school boy asking a girl to the dance. "I should be going though, never know when a case might pop up. See you Saturday then."

Sherlock turned and left and Molly just managed to say goodbye before he was out the door. He took out his mobile and dialed the number for Pied a Tere and made a reservation for the three of them. He thought to himself that it was only Wednesday, he would only have to wait a few more days before he might be on the path to starting a new part of his life with John.

Saturday finally came and John was darting around the flat looking for a tie that color coordinated with his button down. "Sherlock, we have to hurry it's going to be murder getting a taxi at this time."

Sherlock emerged from the bedroom fully dressed and ready to leave. John threw on his jacket, having found the right tie at last. "We have plenty of time John, calm down."

He rested his hand against the doctors shoulder and the two of them scuttled out of the flat and John began to wave a taxi down. The climbed inside and spent the first minute or more with out saying a word. Finally it was John who broke the silence. "What if she says no?" His voice held every hint of wanting to just turn around and go back to Baker Street.

"Worrying about something that may or may not happen, that you can not control is illogical." Sherlock spoke trying to soothe his husband's nerves.

"I know that." John sighed and looked out the window, his body slumping slightly.

"Honestly John, she cares about us very much. There is a great likely hood that, once the shock wears off, she will say yes." This statement earned him a smile from his love.

John rested his head against Sherlock's shoulder for the rest of the ride. Once outside the restaurant they climbed from the cab and headed inside, Molly was already there waiting. "Oh, good I don't have the wrong place." She gave a wide smile of relief seeing the pair of them arrive. She was wearing a stunning red dress to match her favorite shade of lipstick.

"Molly so good to see you. You look beautiful." John embraced her and kissed her cheek offering her a genuine smile.

Her brightly painted lips pulled up in the corners to match his expression as the three of them were ushered to the table. "I don't think that I have ever been somewhere this nice." She marveled looking at the rather extravagant atmosphere that the owner had created.

"I know the owner, got into a bit of a situation a few years back when he partnered with the wrong vineyard for wine. He was in some pretty serious trouble with the mafia but I helped square it away." Sherlock pulled out her chair politely.

He ordered a bottle of red wine for the table as the waiter handed them menus to look over. "Order what you like, it's our treat tonight." John nodded to Molly when the waiter left to retrieve the wine.

"Oh, you don't have to." She shook her head, even as she knew the place was out of her budget.

"No, we invited you out. We insist it's our treat." John shook his head to let her know that he wasn't about to budge on his offer. Sherlock stayed quiet, apparently deducing the menu to avoid conversation.

Molly nodded not wanting to be impolite, "Well thank you then." Her eyes now were affixed on the list of french cuisine.

The wine arrived and soon after they placed their orders. After the small conversation had run it's course John placed his hand over Sherlock's.

The detective remembered this was their 'code' that it was time to start the conversation that they came here for. "Molly," Sherlock started, "John and I have something to ask you."

She shot them a perplexed look, taking a short draw of wine before responding. "What did you want to ask?"

They both hesitated to speak but Sherlock took the lead, seeing how incredibly scared his husband suddenly looked. "You know we've been trying to find a surrogate for some time now." He met her eyes seeing confusion still in them, he explained further. "I seem to have higher standards that I expected when it came to the interviews in the past few months. I'm afraid I have John near the end of his rope because I am being so specific."

John snorted out a small bit of laughter, "He really is driving me up a damn wall."

Molly laughed nervously now, wondering still where this was going. "Yeah, well can never be too careful when it comes to children." Her voice was gentle and sympathetic.

"Precisely." Sherlock steepled his finger times again as he spoke now. "That is exactly how I feel about finding a surrogate. I want to be careful and I have a certain list of criteria I wanted to find for the mother. I told John that I want an intelligent woman that might help create a particularly clever baby. She would have to be kind as well, beauty how every cosmetic is practical as well." He cleared his throat, it suddenly felt quite dry. Taking a sip of wine before he continued, squeezing John's hand as if it might help give him courage. "After I told him all of this it was clear that perhaps we already knew the right woman." His eyes met Molly's brimming with sincerity and admiration. "Molly Hooper, you are a wonderful woman. I…We've never known someone so compassionate and genuine. You must know by now that you possess well above average intelligence and despite the fact that I tend to over look these things you are beautiful."

Molly's face was now alight with the horror of comprehension. "You, you want me to be—" She paused mid thought as she looked between the pair of them. "You want me to be your surrogate?" She asked as if it needed to be clarified further.

"Yes. Yes that is exactly what we are asking." John spoke this time, Sherlock was watching her to see if maybe asking her was the wrong idea.

For a moment her face was unreadable, eyes a bit wider than normal and looking back and forth between the two men.

"Don't feel obligated to anything Molly, we know it's a big thing to ask. We wouldn't want to make you uncomfortable." John explained trying to assure her that he understood how important something like this was.

"Oh, Sherlock…John I would be so happy to help you." Molly's face was beaming with a combination of shock and joy. She was tearing up and she grabbed her napkin from her lap to catch the droplets of water. "I really would, I can't believe you're asking me. You both would be incredible fathers." Her voice was shaking as she tried to bite back tears.

Sherlock had one eye brow raised, he could not understand why she was crying. "Are you alright?" he asked handing Molly his napking as well.

She laughed and nodded, managing to quell the crying now and looking down to her hands. "I'm fine, I really am. I just never thought, I mean I know how picky you can be about little things even. The fact that you want my help for something like this, it means a lot Sherlock."

"You mean a great deal to the both of us." He admitted freely to her. "You saved my life before and here you are doing it again."

That comment deteriorated any control the young woman had over her tears and they fell again despite the full smile spread on her lips. She wiped away the fat tear drops rolling down her cheeks and finished her wine in a quick gulp.

"We'll cover all medical costs of course, I know a terrific fertility doctor down at the surgery." John explained.

Molly merely nodded, "If I do this I have one rule though." she made her voice sound very serious. "You'll have to be more careful with your experiments, I don't want to hear John telling me how the baby was playing with a rogue eyeball." She grinned to Sherlock.

"Fair enough." Sherlock nodded and matched her grin.

The three of them finished dinner and left the restaurant all in very high spirits. Molly gave them both a tight hug before Sherlock hailed her a cab and then a second for he and John. "You really have no idea how much this means to us." John said opening the door for her.

"I'm honored." As she spoke her tone cracked as if threatening to cry again. "You two deserve to be happy. I'm always worried that he won't be happy. Now I won't have to worry any more."

"You are a saint, Molly Hooper." John kissed her cheek and closed the cab door.

The ride home was that of endearing, blissful silence. Occasionally either John or Sherlock would let out a rather dreamy sounding sigh. They were going to be parents. After months of frustration and interviews,they were going to have a real family at last and it was all because of a wonderful woman that they already knew.


End file.
